Hawaiian indigenous leader Pua Case and her Ohana travelled from the Big Island to support the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Pua Case is waging a similar battle to protect the sacred mountain Mauna Kea from a telescope array.

The proposed Canadian-funded project would install an 18-story telescope and the supporting structure would extend 20 feet underground. Mauna Kea and her summit would be further desecrated by a 21,000 square foot office building, a road and a parking lot.

A statement on the Idle No More Website, describes the historical and spiritual significance.

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Mauna Kea is one of the most sacred places in the Pacific. Islanders use the mountain as a place of spiritual contemplation, healing and recreation. National Geographic recently named it as one of the Holiest places on Earth. For Native Hawaiians, Mauna Kea is a temple dedicated to Aloha and peace. It is where our supreme being gave birth to all living things. It was the meeting place of Papa (Earth Mother) and Wakea (Sky Father), the progenitors of the Hawaiian people, and is the burial ground of the most revered of Hawaiian ancestors.

This is exactly the same fight the Sioux Nation is peacefully and prayerfully waging against Energy Transfer Inc. and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Enbridge, a Canadian company, is a major partner in the DAPL.

How many telescopes are needed on Mauna Kea? There are already 13 telescopes and other facilities built and maintained by foreign countries and corporations.

How many more oil pipelines do we need in the Great Plains?

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Like Mauna Kea, there is a lack of proper environmental and cultural impact studies on the DAPL route. The proposed pipeline would cross under a section of the Missouri River that serves as a source of water for the Standing Rock tribe. Once again, broken treaties, broken promises and generational trauma are threatening the spiritual, mental and physical well-being of a Sovereign Nation.

Energy Transfer Inc has already destroyed burial grounds and spiritual sites of historical importance to the Sioux Nation. How much more insult will we allow after the fait accompli?

Georgianne Nienaber is an investigative environmental and political writer. She lives in rural northern Minnesota, New Orleans and South Florida. Her articles have appeared in The Society of Professional Journalists' Online Quill (more...)